“Paul” beams its way into theaters today. The road trip alien action comedy (oh yeah – it’s all of that and more) stars our favorite Brits Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as they happen upon a visitor from beyond (that’d be Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen) in the desert outside Area 51 while enjoying a post-Comic-Con RV tour of America’s storied UFO heartland.

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Turns out that Paul’s fleeing from government officials – the most menacing of them being the mysterious and driven Agent Zoil (played by Jason Bateman). The sci-fi geeks eventually bond with Paul, becoming fellow fugitives when they accidentally kidnap naïve religious zealot Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig). Zoil’s clueless cronies Haggard (Bill Hader) and O’Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio) add to the uproarious mix, as does Jane Lynch in a cameo as a bartender that’ll have you jonesin’ to put sparklers in all your drinks.

We strongly endorse the side-splitting hilarity of “Paul” – it’s more than worth checking out this weekend, and here are five reasons why.